Sling It!Pavyzdys

S - Strength over Stress

It’s very easy to be stressed out when you are in the throes of a giant-sized battle. Stress comes quite naturally to most of us, and it’s an understandable response to challenging circumstances in life. It’s not easy to be calm and composed when we are faced with gigantic problems such as serious health issues, redundancies at work, or relational challenges. But we need to try our best to resist getting stressed because if we are stressed, we become anxious, unlikely to sleep well, irritable, and can become consumed with worry. While these things are typical responses to difficulty, I believe there is a better way to face our giants. That’s by choosing to engage in the things that build strength and decrease the stress in our lives.

I personally find I grow in strength over a coffee date with my husband or mum to thrash out and process how I'm feeling. I’ve also discovered that boxing is a great way of releasing pent-up stress - punching people (legally!) for me is good therapy!

Pause to consider the things that give you strength. Are you engaging in these activities regularly to build strength and decrease stress?

We need to develop an inner strength as David had, which was demonstrated in his unshakeable confidence in God.

David understood that his strength came from God; he gave God the credit, saying, “The battle is the Lord’s”. David knew that on his own he was not strong enough to overpower and defeat this giant. But he recognised that God had the power to work through him to defeat this enemy. We can partner with Almighty God, and we do not have to fight alone.

David was not stressed or phased by the giant, and that wasn’t because Goliath wasn’t a serious threat, as he clearly was. David acknowledged that God was able to win this battle, even though the natural odds were definitely not in his favour.

What we focus on magnifies. We can focus on the size of the giant in front of us - but all this does is make the giant, and our stress levels increase. Most of us recognise that compared to our giant-sized problems, we are small and weak, and on our own, we really haven’t the strength to win. But God, plus you have got this. God, plus David, beat Goliath. God can exchange your stress for his strength.

Stressed is also the word desserts spelled backwards, so maybe a giant-sized slice of banoffee pie will also help manage stress levels :)